


Sleeping Beauty (A Nico and Jesper Story)

by MsVampirequeen



Category: Hockey - Fandom
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-06-06
Packaged: 2019-03-22 13:23:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,519
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13765071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsVampirequeen/pseuds/MsVampirequeen
Summary: "Before sunset on his nineteenth birthday, the prince will touch a goalie stick and die!"





	1. Princes and Curses

Once upon a time in the kingdom of Sweden, the king and queen were having a party to celebrate the birth of their son, Prince Jesper. The guest list included many nobles, a few ageless mages, the King of Switzerland, his pregnant wife, their young son Luca, and their daughter Nina.

After the king and queen opened the presents for their son, the mages lined up to bless the young prince. Lord Hedberg stepped forward first and gently placed a hand on the prince’s forehead.

“Prince Jesper, I give you the gifts of beauty, kindness, and wisdom. You will grow into a handsome young man, you will be as kind as you are beautiful, and you will be a wise and just ruler,” the mage said as the prince looked up at him with wide eyes.

Lord Hedberg stepped back and Lord Adam, Son of Lars, stepped forward. The queen rose and handed her son to the mage. The prince immediately began to smile at the mage, who proceeded to make some funny faces at him for a few seconds. The mage regained his composure and said, “Little prince, you will grow up to be a great hockey player. Your speed and puck handling skills will be excellent, and you will work well with your teammates. However, you will have to practice because magic alone can’t help you.”

Adam handed the prince back to his mother and returned to his seat. One by one, the other mages gave the prince their blessings until only Lord Johansson, the most powerful mage in attendance, remained. As the mage strode towards the king and queen’s thrones, the candles flickered and went out.

After what felt like an eternity, the candles flickered back to life, revealing a man in a black robe.

“Lord Bettman, what are you doing here?” the king asked.

“I wanted to come see the little, um, bundle of joy,” the man muttered sarcastically as he strode towards the queen and the prince. He stopped in front of them and sneered at the prince before looking up at the king and queen.

“Before sunset on his nineteenth birthday, the prince will touch a goalie stick and die!” he exclaimed as the guests gasped in horror. 

Before anyone could respond, the mage waved his hand and a cloud of smoke rose from the floor to surround him. When the smoke cleared, Lord Bettman was gone and the queen was sobbing.

Lord Johansson strode forward and place a hand on the prince’s head.

“Unfortunately, I’m not powerful enough to remove the curse, but I can change it. The prince will not die, but he will fall into a deep sleep,” the mage said.

The party went on for half an hour more before everyone left in a worse mood than they had been in when they arrived.

“Marcus, how will we know when our son will wake up?” the queen asked as she gently placed the prince in his cradle.

The mage waved his hand and a beautiful red rose appeared and he handed it to the queen. 

“When your son falls asleep, the rose will freeze. When you see it melt, you’ll know that he’s been woken up.”

The queen nodded and kissed her son goodnight.

Several months later, the king, queen, and prince travelled to Switzerland to celebrate the christening of Prince Nico, who had been born 6 months after Prince Jesper. The King and Queen of Switzerland were overjoyed to see how the young prince had grown since the last time they had seen him.

“You’re going to have so much fun keeping the girls away from him when he’s older,” the queen of Switzerland joked as she looked over the guest list.

The king and queen of Sweden chuckled as a raven flew into an open window and dropped off a letter. The king of Switzerland opened it and gave a sigh of relief.

“Lord Bettman isn’t coming,” he said happily.

“Good,” his wife replied.

“What did you invite him for?” Lord Johansson asked.

“Um, about that. He owed my family a debt from when my father agreed to spare his daughter’s life and he repaid it by curing Luca’s illness after he was born,” the Queen of Switzerland explained.

“I see,” the mage replied.

A few hours later, the party was in full swing and it was time for the mages to bless Prince Nico. The young prince received almost all of the same blessings as Jesper, with the exception of being a fair and just ruler, as it was obvious that he would never sit on Switzerland’s throne.

After the party ended, Lord Johansson approached the King and Queen of Switzerland.

“Your Majesties, I have seen a vision. Even though your son will never sit on the throne of his home kingdom, he will someday sit on the throne of another kingdom.”

“Really? Where?” the queen asked.

“I cannot tell you that,” Marcus said as he waved his hand and two roses, one red and one white, appeared at his fingertips. He handed them to the queen and said, “When the prince finds his kingdom, the colors of the roses will change to the colors of his new kingdom.”

The queen handed the roses to her husband and they bid the mage and Sweden’s Royal Family goodnight.


	2. Growing Up

When Prince Jesper was five years old, Lord Johansson moved into the castle to start teaching him how to play hockey. The young prince showed promise, but hated practicing. More often than not, he would have to be bribed with sweets or promises of skating time after. As soon as the young prince expressed an interest in hockey, the king remembered Lord Bettman’s curse and set about trying to ban goalie sticks. The queen managed to stop him by telling him that doing so would cause a riot and that they had nothing to worry about until the prince’s nineteenth birthday.

Over the years, the ruling families of Sweden and Switzerland would visit each other once or twice a year. By the time Jesper and Nico were six years old, it was clear to their parents that the two of them were best friends. The young princes would spend their time racing around their castles’ rinks or hallways, playing hockey, or whacking each other with their sticks for no reason.

When Jesper was ten, he developed a strong interest in playing goalie, much to the dismay of his father. Once again, the king suggested banning goalie sticks, and the queen told him that it was a bad idea.

“Sweetie, you know you can’t do that without causing a riot,” she said.

“What if I just ban them in the castle?”

“No.”

“Fine,” the king sighed in annoyance.

A few minutes later, Jesper bounced into the room with a huge smile on his face.

“I blocked a shot from Marcus!” he shouted happily as he bounced up and down a few times.

“Good for you, sweetie!” the queen said as her husband dodged a swing from Jesper’s goalie stick.

“Jesper, I’m proud of you, but you need to stop swinging the stick. You’ll break something,” the king said as the prince spun around and knocked over a vase.

“Sorry mom,” he said as the queen rushed over and scooped up the rose that Marcus had given her on the night of the prince’s christening party.

“It’s ok, sweetie. Just be careful,” the queen said as she picked up the rose and stared at it before she looked at her son.

“Ok,” the prince replied before his mother came over and hugged him.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“Nothing, I just love you,” came the reply as Marcus entered the room.

“Come on, buddy, let’s see if you can block a few more shots,” he said as he held out his hand.

The prince bounced over to the mage and grabbed his hand. The two left the room and walked down the hallway. The queen watched them go, then stared sadly at the rose in her hand.

A few weeks later, Jesper and his family travelled to Switzerland to visit Nico and his family. The two princes happily hugged each other and Nico, who was now nine years old, quickly pulled Jesper into his room to show him his new gear.

“How’s Nico?” the queen of Sweden asked Nico’s parents.

“He’s doing well. How’s Jesper?”

“He’s good. He thinks he wants to play goalie now,” the king of Sweden replied in annoyance.

“Look, Jesper!” Nico exclaimed as he pointed out his gear.

“Wow. It’s really nice,” the Swedish prince replied.

“Let’s go play,” Nico suggested as he grabbed his stick and helmet.

A few minutes later, the two princes were suiting up in the castle’s ice rink. Marcus had brought Jesper’s gear to the rink and had agreed to referee for the princes.

The princes’ game was uneventful until Nico pushed Jesper into the boards and the Swedish prince retaliated by tripping his friend with his stick. Nico quickly darted back to his feet, dropped his stick, and lunged at his friend, who stepped out of the way and flung his gloves off.

“Bring it, Jesper,” Nico said with a playful smirk as he shook his gloves off and skated towards his friend.

Jesper smiled and waited for Nico to reach him before he grabbed his jersey. Nico grabbed his friend’s jersey and lightly punched him in the shoulder. Jesper smirked as he gently punched the other prince in the arm. For the next minute or so, the two princes dramatically swung their fists at each other until Marcus separated them.

“Boys, be careful,” he said as the princes giggled.

“Why?” Jesper asked.

“Because you could get hurt. Now go play.”

“Jesper, can you switch to goalie now?” Nico asked. 

“Ok,” Jesper replied as he darted off the ice.

He returned a few minutes later in his goalie gear.

“I’m ready. Are you?” he asked as he grabbed his stick and stepped onto the ice.

“Definitely,” Nico replied as he adjusted his helmet.

For the next ten minutes, Nico shot pucks at Jesper, who blocked around a quarter of them.

“Ok, I’m tired,” the Swedish prince said as his friend came by to get more pucks.

“Same. Let’s get some hot chocolate,” Nico suggested as they skated away from the goal.

Fifteen minutes later, the princes had changed clothes and were sitting in front to the library’s fireplace with cups of hot chocolate. They chatted for a few minutes before they were joined by Prince Luca and Princess Nina. The four of them chatted about hockey and their lessons until their parents came to bring them to dinner.


	3. Visits

Seven years passed and Prince Jesper had grown from an adorable child into a handsome young man. Nobles from all over the kingdom and the surrounding kingdoms travelled miles to see the prince or try to arrange a marriage between him and their daughters. Unfortunately, they were all rejected by either the prince or his parents.

“Are you really not attracted to any of them?” the king asked after his son rejected yet another noblewoman.

“Yes,” Jesper replied in annoyance.

“Why?”

“I don’t know,” came the reply before the prince stood up and returned to his room.

A few weeks later, Jesper and his family travelled to Switzerland to visit Nico and family. As the Swedish royal family’s carriage crossed into Switzerland, the queen looked at her son and asked, “Do you know why we’re visiting this time?”

“No, why?” Jesper asked.

“We want to talk to Nico’s parents about arranging a marriage between you and Princess Nina.”

Jesper’s eyes widened and he gasped.

“Mother? W-why?”

“We’re close with them and you two would make a beautiful couple,” the queen replied.

“There are a lot of political advantages. Stop rolling your eyes!” the king said. 

“But she’s my best friend’s sister! That’s weird,” Jesper replied.

“You’ll get used to the idea,” the king said as the prince rolled his eyes again.

“I doubt it,” Jesper retorted before the carriage was filled with silence.

The next day, they arrived at the castle, where they were greeted by Marcus and Switzerland’s royal family.

Nico, who was now a handsome young man of seventeen, hurried over to Jesper and bearhugged him. Jesper smiled and returned the hug. The prince’s pulled apart just as a fine mist began to fall. The royal families hurried inside and chatted for a few minutes before Nico dragged Jesper down to the rink.

“How’s your backhand?” Nico asked as he and Jesper suited up.

“It’s, um, good,”Jesper replied.

“Prove it,” Nico taunted as he pulled on a red practice shirt.

“I will,” Jesper retorted as he pulled on his blue practice shirt.

“I’m going to kick your butt.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Jesper taunted.

Less than five minutes later, the princes were ready and on the ice.

“Marcus, hurry up,” Jesper said as he and Nico waited for the mage to drop the puck.

“Fine,” Marcus sighed dramatically as he glided over to them and conjured a puck out of thin air.

He dropped the puck, then backed out of the way as Jesper gained control of it. Over the next several minutes, the game went back and forth with neither player scoring. After several minutes, Marcus rang a bell to call a time out. As the princes stopped to rest, they caught sight of their parents and Nico’s siblings, who had filed into their usual chairs in the front row.

“Are you going to tell me to watch my language because your sister’s here?” “Jesper asked.

“Nope. She’s just as bad as you,” Nico replied as Marcus rang the bell again.

“What? I call bullshit,” Jesper retorted and he and Nico skated back over to Marcus.

A few seconds later, Marcus dropped the puck and Nico got control of it. It didn’t take long before he got it past Jesper and into the net. The Swiss prince held onto the lead until Jesper scored right before Marcus rang the bell and told them that they had one period left. 

“Enjoy the tie while it lasts, because you’re going down next period,” Jesper taunted.

“Bite me,” Nico replied.

The two princes went back and forth until Marcus rang the bell and the last period started. It didn’t take long before Jesper took the lead, but Nico quickly got another goal back to tie it up at 2. Right before Marcus rang the bell, Nico darted past Jesper and scored.

“It looks like you were wrong,” he taunted as he and Jesper left the ice.

The princes chatted about various things as they got changed and headed to dinner, where they were once again joined by their parents and Nico’s siblings. 

When dinner ended, everyone retreated to the Game Room, where Jesper soundly defeated Prince Luca in chess. As everyone began to get ready for bed, Jesper’s parents and Nico informed him that they’d be visiting friends the next day, so he would be alone with Nico’s parents and siblings.

**Author's Note:**

> This story was inspired by a comment made by Will Butcher in my Nico/Nolan story and another story that I'm currently working on.


End file.
